You ever want to know what people are buying in bookstores? Well, it so happens that I work at one! During the last week of February 2018, I pondered about what type of post to make for “Books in Hand.” At first, I planned to discuss all the books customers came in asking for or buying, but that’s a bit too much because everybody came in asking for different books, and I didn’t remember all of them. My boss showed me a way to check our store’s best selling books, and I found out what we sold a lot of! And that’s what this post is—seeing the top ten selling books of January 2020—the brand new year!
| FICTION |
|---|
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho | Little Women by Louisa May Alcott | There There by Tommy Orange | Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng | American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee | The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy | The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates | The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison | My Hero Academia Vol. 1
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | One Day in December by Josie Silver | The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald | The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin | The Lady of the Lake (The Witcher #7) by Andrezj Sapkowski
| KIDS + TEENS |
|---|
Dog Man: Fetch-22 by Dav Pilkey | Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi | Guts by Raina Telgemeier | Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History by Vashti Harrison
FGTeeV Presents Into the Game! by FGTeeV | One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus | Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi | An Elephant & Piggie Biggie Volume 2! by Mo Willems | Wrecking Ball (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #14) by Jeff Kinney
Epoca: The Tree of Ecrof by Kobe Bryant and Ivy Claire | Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison | The Cabin by Natasha Preston | The Baddest Day Ever (The Bad Guys #10) by Aaron Blabey | Dog Man Unleashed by Dav Pilkey
| NONFICTION |
|---|
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei | Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez | The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz | A Very Stable Genius by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonning | You Were Born For This by Chani Nicholas
Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell | The Mamba Mentality: How I Play by Kobe Bryant | The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson | Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson | Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie | The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene | Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow | Born A Crime by Trevor Noah | Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
NOTES:
- Every bookstore’s top-selling books will be different from each other. This list is just for my store.
- There’s nothing like death (Kobe) and controversy to sell books (*ahem* American Dirt, which I hate that I’m seeing this book at work.)
- These books seem to be forever on the top-selling list: The Alchemist, anything Dog Man or Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, You Are A Badass, The Four Agreements, the 5 Love Languages, and Milk and Honey. (Don’t be surprise if you see these books here or in future “Books in Hand” posts. People love these books.)
- I omitted the poetry list because it didn’t change from February, so it was The Sun and Her Flowers, Pillow Thoughts, and Milk and Honey.
This is very cool!! I’m always interested in what is selling at the stores beyond the NYT List. I was surprised to see LITTLE WOMEN there, but maybe the movie that came out inspired people. Also, the kid books are all SUPER familiar to me, as my son owns almost all of them :)